It’s a slow Sunday pottering in the veggie patch, soaking up the mild afternoon sun that twinkles through the softly falling drizzle from the heavens above.
Three magpies follow behind and as I squat to pull out weeds they opportunistically dive in and gobble up any beetles laid bare by the turned soil.
The steady thrum of cicadas pulsate all around - like a steady heartbeat - vibrating from the depth of the earth upon which I stand. Comforting.
Seering, hot, sharp, white, sound smashes the serenity. Slashing, screeching it snatches at my heart and then that loud: “Boom!”, quickly followed by another louder “BOOM!”
Empty, numb silence. Did it go for three seconds or three minutes? I cannot truly say- I just know that time stands still and my blood turns icy…
… and then one last sickening noise- a thunderous THUD which echoes sound waves, reverberating along the river…out and out like the ripples of a stone thrown in a pond.
Quick! Run inside! House empty! Russell has left already! No time for shoes. Sprint to the front gate. People leaving homes, walking and running toward the bridge.
Shocked faces; standing mute.
Skid marks on the damp road point to the broken bridge fence. The car in the flood way turned upside down, smashed against the cement, smoke writhing up.
I weave through the crowd, jump the fence - one person in front of me and one person behind-it’s Russell. We shimmy down the embankment and into the coldness of below.
Movement in the front of the car-phew!
Russell stretches into the wreckage and turns off the motor. The driver, a teenager, crawls out. His girlfriend, not so fast. We ask them to stay still and not to move, but they move anyway.
They are in shock- Russell checks their vitals.
I turn my attention to the person in the back. I kneel, bowing low to see him. My knees bleed in the shattered glass. I see a young man of just 17.
His name is Nathan. He is large and fit- an athlete… and he is not moving.
His pulse resolutely, defiantly even, ticks on …
… for a bit longer.
There is much more to this story, but like the five minutes we have to tell our story for this post, we only have a little time to live our lives…and we can live it with grace and victory if we choose…
…even when it is cut short.
Lives were saved that day… but not Nathan’s.
As a registered organ donor, Nathan heroically saved six lives that ordinary, though extraordinary Sunday afternoon.
Daily 5 minute #freewrite, prompt provided by @mariannewest